BA seating policy with infants - how to get seats together??
Jul 28, 2011, 6:22 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: BA Exec Club (Blue), Flying Blue (Ivory), Priority Club (Platinum)
Posts: 8
BA seating policy with infants - how to get seats together??
First post here ... looking for some advice/help please!
I'm travelling to CPT next month - my wife & daughter (infant) are flying separately on the way out and we're all travelling back together. Normally in these cases we just get the bookings linked and a few days later we get seats together (normally 12A/B in WT+). Never been an issue before, but on this occasion (despite numerous phone calls to 4 different people) BA admantly refuse to allocate a seat next to my wife - even if I pay for it - as they say I'm not travelling with an infant, even though our bookings are linked. This has come from the seating team in Manchester ... and I can't get any direct contact details for them.
Infuriatingly if I go into my wife's MMB I can see seat 12B free, but in mine its blocked out.
Any ideas on who I can go to/what I can do next? I've already complained about one person in the pre-flight team as he wouldn't even allow me to speak to his supervisor ("no, I'm not passing this call on them over this matter"). The result of the complaint ... we'll pass you to someone in the pre-flight team! Arghhh... so frustrated!
Any ideas?
Thanks,
K.
I'm travelling to CPT next month - my wife & daughter (infant) are flying separately on the way out and we're all travelling back together. Normally in these cases we just get the bookings linked and a few days later we get seats together (normally 12A/B in WT+). Never been an issue before, but on this occasion (despite numerous phone calls to 4 different people) BA admantly refuse to allocate a seat next to my wife - even if I pay for it - as they say I'm not travelling with an infant, even though our bookings are linked. This has come from the seating team in Manchester ... and I can't get any direct contact details for them.
Infuriatingly if I go into my wife's MMB I can see seat 12B free, but in mine its blocked out.
Any ideas on who I can go to/what I can do next? I've already complained about one person in the pre-flight team as he wouldn't even allow me to speak to his supervisor ("no, I'm not passing this call on them over this matter"). The result of the complaint ... we'll pass you to someone in the pre-flight team! Arghhh... so frustrated!
Any ideas?
Thanks,
K.
Jul 28, 2011, 6:51 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA CCR/GGL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,484
Any booking with an infant allows free seat selection from the point of booking. Anyone in WT+ can "Pay 25/30/$38 to choose your seats from the time of booking up to 25 hours before departure. Pay 50/60/$75 for exit row seats between 14 and 4 days before departure. (Children under 12 years cannot sit in exit row seats.)".
I can't understand why can't your wife select the seat she wants and you pay, through MMB, for the seat next to her?
Jul 28, 2011, 7:07 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
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Posts: 8
12B (the seat beside my wife) is free in her MMB, but when I go to my MMB 12B is shown as taken as it is automatically reserved for people travelling with infants (and even though our bookings are linked, it doesn't recognise the fact I'm travelling with my wife/infant).
Normally BA would just allocate this one to me manually, but in this case they're refusing to do it - even if I offer to pay for it.
Normally BA would just allocate this one to me manually, but in this case they're refusing to do it - even if I offer to pay for it.
Jul 28, 2011, 7:12 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Can you not put your Wife (and baby) into 12B from her MMB, so that technically the infant is in that seat, and would that not let you choose 12A? (Or am I confusing which if the A and B seats is technically the bassinet?)
Jul 28, 2011, 7:20 am
#5
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Can I suggest calling back and trying to get another agent. You may find the answer is different. Good luck.
Jul 28, 2011, 7:24 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA CCR/GGL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,484
12B (the seat beside my wife) is free in her MMB, but when I go to my MMB 12B is shown as taken as it is automatically reserved for people travelling with infants (and even though our bookings are linked, it doesn't recognise the fact I'm travelling with my wife/infant).
Normally BA would just allocate this one to me manually, but in this case they're refusing to do it - even if I offer to pay for it.
Normally BA would just allocate this one to me manually, but in this case they're refusing to do it - even if I offer to pay for it.
Jul 28, 2011, 7:28 am
#7
Original Poster
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A P Yu: My MMB doesn't allow me select any seats 12A-G or 11J/K .... and most of these show up as available in my wifes MMB - so I presume if my wife moved seats, I still wouldn't be able to sit beside her.
sunrisegirl: I've spoken to 4 different people so far and emailed another in the exec club, but no-one can do anything as the seating team in Manchester are refusing to allocate the seat ... and no one will give me contact details for anyone in that team. Might take a chance and send a letter to the "head of customer relations" or something similar at BA and see if that gets me anywhere..... not holding out much hope though!
sunrisegirl: I've spoken to 4 different people so far and emailed another in the exec club, but no-one can do anything as the seating team in Manchester are refusing to allocate the seat ... and no one will give me contact details for anyone in that team. Might take a chance and send a letter to the "head of customer relations" or something similar at BA and see if that gets me anywhere..... not holding out much hope though!
Jul 28, 2011, 8:23 am
#8
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I don't have an open WT+ booking to check, but surely not all 8 seats in the first row are bassinet seats, so can you not put your wife in one of the bassinet seats which has a "normal" seat next to it? The seat maps aren't too helpful in showing which seats are dedicated bassinet seats but surely there must be one with a normal seat next to it
Jul 28, 2011, 8:31 am
#9
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It's because you have two separate bookings. You have no status so have to pay if you want to allocate a seat. Your wife gets free allocation. If you pay, you're presumably fine to get a seat (unless the front row of WT+ is blocked for GCHs???)
Jul 28, 2011, 8:32 am
#10
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 628
While not ideal why don't you either book a different aisle seat (such as the one behind) and swap when 12B comes available at T-24. If it doesn't come available I would find it highly unlikely that the person in 12B wouldn't welcome the prospect of swapping rather than spending the whole journey next to an infant who potentially could be being passed across them....
Jul 28, 2011, 8:46 am
#11
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IIRC 12BJ are held for Golds (though I could be wrong on this)
Jul 28, 2011, 8:58 am
#12
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sunrisegirl: that could explain it ... though why they won't let me sit next to my family I don't know (even though they could make another 25 from me!)
trvllvr123: thats probably what I'll end up doing, seems all a little silly though!
trvllvr123: thats probably what I'll end up doing, seems all a little silly though!
Jul 28, 2011, 9:27 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
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Posts: 8
I have offered to pay already - but to no avail. On other occasions getting this seat wasn't an issue (we do this trip the same way a few times a year) .... but thinking about, previously we used a major travel agent to book our tickets and this time I went direct for mine - maybe should have just booked through the agency again!